First it was Men at Work v Larrikin. Now a former manager of Guns N’ Roses, Alan Niven, is taking to court two former guitarists for the Angels, John and Richard Brewster (now performing as the Brewster Brothers) in California. Niven – who managed Guns N’ Roses during their pomp from 1986 to 1991 and also briefly managed the Angels from 1988-89, winning them their first US record contract – alleges that after a family breakdown, he recruited Rick Brewster to the US in 2001 to help him record some songs he had written. However, Niven alleges, after a brief creative flowering, which led to an agreement that Niven would supply pop songs ”on spec”, the pair went on to derive, perform and sell songs Niven claims are his. He is suing for infringement of copyright, breach of contract, violation of moral rights, and for the return of ”a Gibson 335” and ”an American Fender Stratocaster with a maple neck”. Niven’s lawyer, Eric Bjorgum, said: ”We have received no contact from them, except from their attorney saying he would not accept service of process. The dollar amounts that were put forth were minimal; no return of guitars was offered. The songs were taken off iTunes, then put back up. I haven’t checked recently, but they should be down again. This is not something that Mr Niven took lightly, nor is he happy to be involved in litigation with former associates and friends. We understand the reputation of the Brewsters and their contribution to music. But at some point Mr Niven was entitled to appropriate recognition … He would also like to be able to perform and market his own songs, but a shadow is cast across them now.”

A WHOLE LOTTA UGG

A world record was set at Martin Place yesterday for the largest number of people dancing in slippers. From 8am to 9am about 100 people, or 200 feet (that’s 1000 toes), mostly clad in ugg boots, leapt up and down at the direction of Zumba instructors to publicise Lifeline’s Stress Down Day, to be held on July 23. Chris Wagner of Lifeline said they settled on this record because ”dancing in slippers is less stressful than dancing in clogs”, which was the other record available. ”We’re asking the community to take a day off from stress,” he said. ”About 90 per cent of Australians are stressed every day in five key areas: health, work, finance, personal relationships and thoughts of the future.” If you think that’s a stressful thought in itself, then try this: ”About 43 per cent or 9.5 million Australians feel high levels of stress every day.” Lifeline says the best way to prevent stress is also the simplest: eat well, exercise and get a good night’s sleep. ”A good night’s sleep is essential. It gives you a really good perspective.”

THE ROYAL PRENUP

Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden and her new husband, the prince formerly known as Daniel Westling, have lodged a prenuptial agreement, leaving him without a claim to her inheritance or income if they split, the Associated Press reports. Any IKEA furniture they purchase, however, will be split down the centre as the contract entitles Westling to only half of their private household possessions. Last year the crown princess’s household received 4.8 million kronor ($740,000) – or 8 per cent of state funds reserved for the royal court. After they married, the Duke of Vastergotland, as he is now, quit his job as chief executive of a gym he owns. And in other royal ”news”, a fire at a Toronto transformer station plunged Canada’s largest city into darkness on Monday, a couple of hours before a state dinner for the Queen, and during an earlier presentation by Prince Philip of Duke of Edinburgh Awards. An emergency power supply kicked in a dim supply of light and Prince Philip, doubtless calling on decades of practice, carried on in uncertain surroundings.

A BIG DAY FOR ROBERT DE NIRO

The film trucks were dotted discreetly around the nearby streets but the eagle-eyed may have noticed the kerbside Renaults and Citroens, while the uniformly young and good-looking patrons soaking up the rays at the footpath tables were dressed in slightly retro attire. But even the eagle-eyed could have missed Robert De Niro shuffling his way from a phone booth to the front door of The European restaurant. After four takes, each a minute long, he was gone. The publicity-shy actor, director and restaurateur is in Melbourne for about 10 days to shoot a small role in the action-adventure film The Killer Elite, a $66 million production with Australian finance. It’s adapted from the ”factual” novel The Feathermen, written by English adventurer and former SAS man Sir Ranulph Fiennes. Yesterday’s scene was meant to be Paris, 1979, and the precinct that will no doubt become known as the Paris end of Spring Street was a worthy double. Peugeot enthusiast John Vagg got the call at home in Ballarat on Monday night to be in Melbourne with his car for a 9am start yesterday. ”Never heard of him,” he said of De Niro. ”I suppose I’ll have to buy a ticket and go have a look when it comes to the cinema.”

STAY IN TOUCH …

WITH THE CATFIGHTING IN ABBA-LAND

THE Abba tribute bands of Australia are facing their own Waterloo. Sydney’s Fabba has challenged global professional pretenders Bjorn Again to a sing-off. Anthea Johnson, who has wowed audiences as Fabba’s Frida at venues including Gymea Bowling Club and Rhythmboat Cruises, said they were the most-booked Abba tribute in the country and it was time for Bjorn Again to prove they were the true dancing queens. “Bjorn Again and Fabba are known as the best,” she said. However, she thinks Fabba give better value for Money, Money, Money. ”Fabba gets the most work because they are not only good, they are cheap,” she said. While turning a profit (and getting publicity) might be the name of the game, Johnston revealed what most audiences don’t know: the Abba tribute rivalry in Sydney can be fierce. “It is very competitive between the bands, but there are good, bad and ugly Abba tribute bands,” Johnson said. ”It’s all quite amusing.” Bjorn Again’s owner and manager, John Tyrrell – who had never heard of Fabba – agreed. ”This is laughable,” he said. ”Bjorn Again is a band that’s endorsed by Abba, it plays at the Sydney Opera House, the Royal Albert Hall. We’ve done over 5000 shows in 70 countries.” That’s hardly a (wait for it) SOS, but Peter Varley, director of another Sydney contender, Abba’s Back, was backing Bjorn Again. But if Bjorn Again’s State Theatre run next month sells out, fans could take a chance on them, too. ”The quality of vocals, costumes and musicianship also puts [Abba's Back] in a class … not to be compared with ‘try-hards’,” he said.

WITH THE ORIGIN BLUES

THE Blues’ fifth consecutive State of Origin series defeat is assured no matter the result tonight, but the NSW government would do well to hope the pain doesn’t last too long. Studies in the US have found that a win for a local sporting team in the lead-up to an election makes voters more inclined to back the incumbent. Bob Hawke and John Howard made a habit of associating with sport, sometimes with mixed results. ”We find that a win in the 10 days before election day causes the incumbent to receive an additional 1.61 percentage points of the vote,” the authors of the Stanford University study said. Even so, a win for the Panthers on the eve of Labor’s annihilation last month in the Penrith byelection, unsuprisingly, showed that a league win is not enough to help unfit performers over the line. The ALP strategist Bruce Hawker said that when the South Australian government called an election in 1997 during the AFL finals, people’s attention was so focused on the Adelaide Crows winning that the government almost lost. ”The grand final was one week before election day and it was impossible to get anyone to focus on politics.”

WITH WARD SEX

A LONDON hospital earned a ‘’substantial income” by hiring out one of its wards to a ”big-budget” porn film, it has emerged. A Tory MP, Penny Mordaunt, told the the House of Commons on Monday that the filming took place in a fully equipped ward in an unnamed hospital several years ago, the Press Association reports. ”Although I cannot claim to have seen the final picture – as I understand, these things are no longer claimable on parliamentary expenses – it was a big-budget affair and generated substantial income for the hospital,” she said. Mordaunt cited the incident while arguing for improved transparency in government accounting. ”But apart from cheering up a few of the in-patients, it cannot be said to be contributing to the objectives of the primary care trust,” she said.